Crestview seniors Abby Boyarko (left) and Lydia Campbell guard the net Thursday against defending state champion Mentor Lake Catholic.(Morning Journal/Michael Burich)

BURTON — The Crestview volleyball team knew Mentor Lake Catholic was going to be a significant challenge coming into Thursday’s Div. V regional semifinal at Berkshire High School.

Yet, fueled by hope from taking one set off the Cougars in last year’s regional final and seeing that the 2022 and 2023 Div. III state champions had some missteps this season, the Rebels thought they could possibly make a match of it.

It did not turn out that way.

The loaded Cougars put the hammer down with a 25-12, 25-12, 25-17 victory.

The Cougars (21-4) will meet Elyria Catholic at 2 p.m. Saturday in the regional final at Berkshire High School. The Cougars are seeking their seventh state appearance in the last nine years.

It was the third straight season the Rebels went down to the Cougars in a regional contest and it exposed the stark realities that sometimes face public schools when they come up against talent-stacked juggernauts.

“Public and private schools can’t compete on an equal balance,” Crestview coach Alisha Auer said. “If we were playing other public schools, I’d think we’d have a chance at state. I don’t know how competitive balance doesn’t throw these private schools into other divisions. I mean this is Division V. It seems when the state makes changes it just adds divisions and spreads everything out.”

To say that Mentor Lake Catholic was battle-tested is an understatement. The Cougars had 11 regular-season opponents qualify for regionals (including six in Div. III, three in Div. I, and one each in Div. IV and V). Crestview had Girard (Div. V) and Austintown Fitch (Div. II) as regular-season opponents who made it to regionals.

“We’re really blessed that we are in the North Coast Conference with a lot of private schools,” first-year Lake Catholic coach Tess Connolly-Alcantara said. “It’s a lot of great competition and we love where we come from.”

Crestview was the last remaining unbeaten Div. V team in the tournament and only one of five left in Ohio unbeaten coming into Thursday’s matches.

This was Crestview’s sixth straight trip to regionals but it only qualified for the regional final once in 2023, while winning just six of 24 sets played at the regional level in that run.

The Rebels came to play with a lot of energy against Lake, but once the Cougars showed off their superior defense and serve placement, the Rebels buckled.

“I think that Lake Catholic is a very good team and we just came in with a little bit of nerves and that showed a little bit,” Rebel senior and University of Pittsburgh recruit Abbey Emch said.

There were a few contentious calls in the first game that knocked Crestview’s confidence for a loop and the Rebels had to call timeouts at 15-9 and 19-9 in an attempt to keep the match from getting away.

After it seemed like Lake Catholic could do little wrong. The Cougars had several key players back from last season’s state championship and nationally ranked squad in outside hitter Avery Budrys Rini, middle Ava Bundrys Rini, libero Julia Oster and Natalya Bergant.

The fact that Crestview took a set off Lake, motivated the Cougars this season.

“They were really keyed and locked in on identifying who their best hitters were,” Connolly-Alcantara said. “They did a lot of film study and I’m really proud of what they achieved today.”

Emch had 10 kills in her final match with the Rebels. She ends her career with 338 sets played, 1,577 kills, 317 total blocks, 726 digs and 206 aces. She was 102-6 over four seasons in the lineup, including winning 310 of 338 sets played.

“It’s crazy that it’s my last game and I’m super grateful for everything Crestview volleyball has done for me,” Emch said.

Auer said she was one-of-a-kind.

“Oh Abbey is awesome,” Auer said. “I’m really excited for her future and definitely going to miss her. I’m going to miss all of the seniors, but I’m really excited to see what Abbey does in the future.”

Junior Alaina Auer had the Rebels’ best all-around match with eight kills, seven assists, three aces and nine digs. Sophia Stewart had 10 assists. Natalie Blakeman had 10 digs and Bailey Ash had 11 digs and an ace.

Game notes

• In the other regional semifinal, Elyria Catholic beat Girard 25-21, 25-21, 25-11. Girard finishes the season 20-6, while Elyria Catholic is 20-6.

• Auer has coached 20 seasons at Crestview and next year might be her last. Her son Mitchell is at St. Francis University and a daughter Grace is playing volleyball at Findlay. Alaina will likely follow her siblings in playing at the next level following graduation.

“I would really like to watch my children play in college,” Alisha Auer said. “I’ll definitely be back next year, but we’ll just take it year by year after that.”

• East Liverpool was the only team to take a set off of Crestview in the regular season. That came in the Rebels’ second match of the season and the Potters’ first.